Reloading mechanism for magazine-firearms



barrel-held against both rotary and longif rricE,

RELOADING Mncntnivrsivr non fi/rAGAznvE-'rrnnnnivrs Specification of Letters Patent. Patented une y 1921.

Original application iiled July 22, 1918,V Serial No; 245,981.' Divided and this apjlicationY filed May 31,

1919. serial No. 301,036.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ELBERT H. SEARLE, a

citizen l'of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Reloading Mechanism for Magazine Firearms, of which the following is a specification.

This application is a division of my appliing ofl the spent cartridge shell, the barrelv upon which the ejector is mounted, the breech-slide withy which the barrel and ejector are assembled and through which the barrel is mounted on the frame, the breechclosure mounted in the rear end of the breech-slide, in position to open and close the breech end of the barrel as the breechslide reciprocates over the barrel, and a load indicator developed from the actuating rod of the extractor.

In the accompanying drawings- Figures 1, 2, and 3 represent a left side elevation, a front elevation, and a rear elevation of a fire-arm designed as a pistol, in which the several features ofmy invention may be embodied.

Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section in an intermediate plane through the lire-arm, and showing the positions of the parts at the commencement of reloading.l

Fig. 5 is a section in about the horizontal plane of the bore andv disclosing the extractor and ejector in their relation to the barrel and the breech-closing element therefor; and

Fig. 6 is a vertical axial section of the breech-slide.

1 represents Vthe frame; 2 the grip; 3 a

tudinal movement upon the frame by the locking block 4; 5 a breech-slide which extends the full length of the frame, and is mounted thereon to slide longitudinally relatively thereto, through meansof the tongue andgroove joints 6, and lwhich is provided with the usual ejector opening 7, 8 the breech-closure removably inserted through the under side of the breech-slide, but longitudinally fixed i therein and carrying the striker 9 with its driving spring 9a; 10 the Y tem to open thebreech to admit a cartridge Y from the magazine'upward into the path of the breech-closure, return movement of the lever system to close the breech being imparted by a spring as described in application Serial No. 245,981, aforesaid. This. lever system comprises a transmitting lever 16 having its upper lend 16a constantly engaged with the breech-closure 8, and, therefore, adapted toimpart rearward and forward longitudinal movement to bothv said closure and the breech-slide which carries it, and a master lever 17 which has a constant bearing 17 a against the lever 16, a fiXedfulcrum 17b upon a suitable portion Vof the frame, and a bearing 17cupon the stirrup 20 depending from the upper'end of themain spring 21.

Mounting the barrel upon/*the fram'ei,

The barrel 3 fits snugly inthe breech-slide 'so as to be coniinedthereby in all traverse directions, and it thus becomes lnecessary merely to anchor the barrel upon the frame firmly against rotarypand longitudinal displacement to secure a' complete mounting. The barrel is first inserted in the breech-slide 5, being introduced endwise at theforward end of the breech-.slide 4and the latter is then l slid rearwardly overthe frame, with thek tongue and groove 6 inter-engaged, until the ribs and grooves 3a ofthe barrel come into registry with the locking-block 4 in the frame. breech-slidathel barrel is rotated until thel In introducing tiebarrel into theflongitudinal groove 5b of the breech-slide catches the end 14a of the ejector which las carried by, and circumferentially and longltudinally fixed upon, the'barrel as hereinafter described, and the ejector thus serves as a means for angularly locating the rib 3a and recess 3b of the barrel for registry with the locking block 4 and its lug 4a carried by the frame. Block 4 may be depressed by a cam shaft 24 in opposition to a spring 25,l until the ribs thereon are retlred from the path of the ribs 3a of the barrel, rotation of the cam 24 being imparted by any convenient means, such, for instance, as the lever 241 (Fig. 1) ,'andafter the ribs and grooves are thus in registry the block 4 is allowed to rise underthe action of its spring, and the barrel will be secured. lBlock 4 not only secures the barrel 3 against longitudinal movement, but has the lug 4a that enters a recess 3b in the rear end of the barrel (Fig. V5), and this firmly secures the barrel againstV rotationv upon the frame. Lug 4a conveniently serves as the slide or incline through which to guide the point of the cartridge into the chamber of the gun when it is being .displaced Afrom the upper end of the magazine by the closing of the breech.V

reecL-elosure.

' T he extractor.

The extractor 13, as clearly shown in Fig.l 5, is in the form of a bell-crank lever fulcrumed at 13a with theusual end 13b in position to engage the neck of a cartridge, and having in this instance', arm 13c extending transversely-,of the breech-block 8, and in position to receive the forward hook end 27a on. a draw rod 27 which lies longitudinally along the top of the breech-block, and has its rear end 27'D dropped into alinement with the kspring 27C that imparts a rearward thrust to said draw rod, and through it rocks the extractor 18 upon its pivot 13a to cause it to engage the cartridge. Spring 27 might obviously be the rear end Vof the spring. that controls the striker, but I prefer to employ a separate spring of milder' `strength for this purpose, and to leave the entire effective force of the striker spring torcontrol that part.

Load indicator.

A further feature of the draw rod 27 is Vits rearward projection 27d presented at the rear end of the breech-slide in such Inanner that by its protrusion beyondor retlrement into coincidence with the rear surface of the breech-slide it will indicate whether or not the extractor is displaced by the presence of aY cartridge; in other words, Will show whether or not the chamber of the firearm contains a cartridge.

AThe ejector.

The ejector in the present organization is mounted upon the barrel., and is assembled and disassembled with the barrel. To this end the ejector comprises a rearwardly extending rod 14 confined between the barrel 3 and the breech-slide 5j, as shown in Fig. 5, with a-shell-engaging shoulder `14n at its rear end presented in thepath of the shell as it is Ywithdrawn by the extractor 13 and at thetime the ejector opening 7 is brought into proper position; and thisV ejector is preferably provided with an arcuateA clip Y 14b at its forward end seated in a correspondingly formed groove inthe exterior surface of the barrel, and serving the purpose of fixing the ejector against longitudinal movement. In this aspect of the clip 14b it is merely a shoulder longitudinally interlocking with the barrel, and this is its prime function since it is naturally held against displacement from the barrel bythe wall of the breech-slide which surrounds it( l3nt the clip 14b is preferablymade to embrace more than a semi-circle of the barrel, so that it serves the additional function of Vholding the ejector to the barrel even when the latter is separated from the other parts and until it becomes necessary to remove or replace the ejector when theresilient nature of the clip permits this to be conveniently done.

Position'` indem for aon-rotary barrel.

The ejector 14 serves still another purpose, in that it enters a recess 5b in the breechslide 5 when the barrel is introduced into the latter, and this determines the position of the barrel,circumferentially Within the breech-slide, and insures position of the ining block 4, and greatly adds to the convenience of first assembling-the barrel with the breech-slide, and then sliding both of these parts longitudinally over the end of the frame and wit lout the necessityV o'f further manipulation of the barrel. The length of the groove 5b is, of course, sufiicient to terlocking ribs 3 for registry with the lockavoid interference with the reciprocating action of the breech-slide independently of the barrel, and it may also be utilized to limit the inward movement of the'barrel in the breech-slide, and thus further' assist in positioning the locking ribs of` theV barrel over those of its securing block in the frame.

31V represents themagazine which is introduced between the members 2, 2a of the grip as described in my original application.

I claim:

l. In a fire-arm having a reciprocating breech-closure, an extractor carried by said breech-closure, a rod extending rearwardly from said extractor and drawing rearwardly thereon, and a longitudinally reacting vspring on the breech-closure pressing rearwardly upon said rod and thereby holding the extractor to its duty.

2. In a fire-arm having a reciprocating breech-closure, an extractor carried by said breech-closure, a rod extending rearwardly from said extractor, and an axially located spring on the breech-closure acting upon said rod in the direction to hold the extractor to its duty, said rod being presented at the rear surface of the lire-arm and serving by its position to indicate the presence or absence of a cartridge in the chamber ofthe fire-arm. Y

3. In a fire-arm having a reciprocating breech-closure with an extractor mounted thereon, a rod engaging the extractor to control the same and extending longitudinally of the breech-closure to the rear end thereof, av striker carried by said breechclosure, and a spring arranged co-axially with the axis of the striker engagingthe rod and through the rod controlling the extractor.

4. In a fire-arm having a reciprocating breech-slide with a breech-closure removably mounted therein, an extractor carried by the breech-closure, and a controlling rod for said extractor mounted upon the breechclosure and extendingV longitudinally thereof; said rod being held in place upon the breech-closure by the breech-slide in which the breech-closure is mounted.

5. In a fire-arm having a removable barrel, an ejector carried by and longitudinally and circumferentially fixed on said barrel, and interengaging with a part adjacent the barrel to define the circumferential position of the barrel.

6. In a fire-arm having a reciprocating breech-slide with an extractor thereon and a removable barrel in said breech-slide carrying an ejector for coaction with said extractor; said ejector being longitudinally and circumferentially fixed on the barrel and interengaged with the surrounding wall of the breech slide to define the circumfer ential position of the ejector relative to the extractor. Y

7. In a fire-arm having a reciprocating breech slide with an extractor thereon'carried thereby and circumferentially and longitudinally fixed therein, a removable barrel carrying an ejector for coaction with said extractor; said ejector comprising a shouldered arm longitudinally and circum- S. In a fire-arm having a frame, a recip- Y recati-ng breech slide with an extractor thereon carried thereby, a removable `barrel having an ejector longitudinally and circumferentially fixed on said barrel and adapted to coact with said extractor; said ejector comprising a. shouldered `arrn extending rearwardly from the breech end of the barrel; said breech slide having a longitudinal groove that receives the ejector to determine the circumferential position of the barrel; and said frame having means interlocking with the barrel when the barrel is in the position `defined by the ejector.

9. In a breech-loading fire-arm, a frame, a breech slide engaging the frame by longitudinal movement and sliding thereon in the functioning ofthe nre-arm, a barrel carried by said breech slide, assembled therewith by endwise insertion through the front end thereof, and movable therewith into positionl upon the frame, and locking means carried by the frame and movable thereon into engagement with the barrel to resist longitudinal movement of the latter during the functioning movement of the breech slide; said breech slide having an internal longitudinal groove; and said barrel having an ejector longitudinally and circumferentially fixed thereon entering the breech slide with the barrelrand angularly positioning' the barrel to receive the locking means.

l0. In a breech-loading fire-arm, a frame, a breech slide interlocking with but movable longitudinally upon the frame in the functioning of the fire-arm and also in the 'assembly and disassembly thereof, a barrel incased in and assembled by rearward endwise introduction with the breech slide, means for interlocking the barrel against longitudinal and rotary movement on the frame during the functioning of the fire- Yarm but movable out of engagement therewith to permit thel barrel to be assembled and disassembled, a projection circumferentlally and longitudinally fixed on the 'barrel and entering the forward end of the breech slide therewith, and a longitudinal groove in the breech slide in which said projection slides lto hold the barrel in the proper circumferential relation to the breech slide during assembly.

Signed at Bridgeport in the county of' i Fairfield and sate of donn., this,

17th day of May, 1919. y Y

ELBERT H. sEARLE. 

